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Bianchi
D. Bianchi Garland-Bianchi Aircraft Co. Garland Aircraft Co. Fairtravel Ltd.
Douglas Edward Bianchi was born 18 May 1916 in Brentford,
Oxfordshire, and educated at Kingston Grammar School. He started his aviation career as an apprentice at Hanworth and during
service with the Air Transport Auxiliary in the Second World War took charge of the ATA Engineers Instructors' School. Post-war
he helped to form the BEA Engineering School and was later a flight engineer on the early British South American Airways proving
flights.
Personal Plane Services was formed in 1947 at Blackbushe, moving to White Waltham in 1950 where he bought
and restored various Air Ministry disposal aircraft. PPS transferred to Wycombe Air Park, Bucks, in the 1960s.
The
Bianchi Survey light tourer was designed in the 1950s but did not progress beyond the project stage. However, in January 1956
Bianchi and Patrick Arthur T. Garland (b. 1916 – d. August 1999) began work on a version of the very
similar French Piel Emeraude light aircraft redesigned to meet British airworthiness requirements. They formed the Garland-Bianchi
Aircraft Company and the aircraft, named the Linnet, was built at White Waltham and first flown on 1 September 1958
from Fairoaks Airfield. The Garland Aircraft Company, with head office at Dale House, Clewer Green, Windsor,
Berks, and works at Boyne Hill Road, Maidenhead, was formed to put the Linnet into production and in 1960 plans for Bristol
Aircraft to build 25 Linnets under subcontract for Garland were proposed, but these were not finalized.
Garland
built two more Linnets although the second was not completed and it was sold to Air Vice-Marshall Don Bennett’s Fairtravel
Limited in 1962 to continue production as the Fairtravel Linnet II.
Personal Plane Services and Doug Bianchi
became well known in the 1960’s and 1970’s for their work on historic aircraft and replicas, especially for films.
These included Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Mosquito Squadron, The Blue Max, Aces High, A Bridge Too Far
and the BBC TV series Wings. PPS maintained the Stampes and later Pitts of the Rothmans Aerobatic Team, and Doug Bianchi played
a large part in negotiating the Permits to Fly under which private military aircraft are operated in the UK.
Doug
Bianchi died on 10 December 1977.
Company References - Flight 14 Dec 1977
- Aeroplane
Feb 1978
- Aircraft Illustrated Feb 1978
Project Data 
Project No | Type
No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec | Status | Qty | Description | References |
| Bianchi | | | | Survey | | 1950 |
|
Proj |
0 |
2S,
1E touring and training aircraft | 1,5 | |
Garland- Bianchi / Garland | | | | Linnet | | 1958 | | Prdn |
2 |
2S,
1E touring and training aircraft | 2,3 | |
Fairtravel | | |
|
Linnet
II | | 1962 | | Prdn |
3 |
2S,
1E touring and training aircraft | 2,4 | Project References - Air Enthusiast 131
- British
Civil Aircraft Since 1919, Vol 2, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1973)
- Air Pictorial Apr 1960
- Flight
26 Jul 1962
- British Private Aircraft, 1946-1970, Volume 2, Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume (Mushroom
Model Publications, 2013)
Production Summary
Select the  button to go to the appropriate listings page.
Note: In the Production Summary, conversions are only listed where
they result in a change from one Type to another. Changes to sub-type or Mark Number are not shown in the summary. For details
of these, see the individual listings.
Type
No | Name |
Qty (New) | Qty (Conv.) | Canc'd | | |
Linnet 1 |
2 |
|
1 | | |
Linnet
2 | 3 | (1) | | |
Total Linnet Production 5
|
